Iroquois County committee directs treasurer to open interest-bearing account for renewable-energy application fees

The Iroquois County Finance Committee voted to instruct the county treasurer to open an interest-bearing bank account labeled “renewable energy application fees” to hold application fees and to pay inspections and third‑party expert costs tied to conditional use permits.

Committee members said the account will act as a custodial liability account for applicants’ funds and that any remaining decommissioning monies for solar projects will be held in separate accounts. A member moved the instruction and another member seconded; the committee approved the motion by voice vote.

Committee members said the county’s renewable-energy ordinance requires the county to hold application fees in an interest-bearing account while the funds are used for permitting and related costs. The committee discussed whether to open one account to track multiple applicants with separate line items in the county’s accounting software versus opening an account for each applicant; several members said they preferred a single account with project-specific line items for tracking.

Members clarified that application fees will be recorded as liabilities (not county revenue), that public‑hearing costs and third‑party engineering reviews will be paid from the new account, and that long‑term decommissioning escrows for individual solar farms will remain separate funds with their own line items.

The committee also asked staff to prepare a formal resolution to create the account and to provide bank account details to the board. The motion passed on a voice vote; committee roll call recorded members responding “aye” during the vote.

The committee’s action implements language discussed in the county’s renewable-energy ordinance regarding holding applicants’ fees in an interest-bearing account pending completion of the permitting process.

The committee did not set a specific bank product (money market vs. checking) in the motion and said staff will finalize that detail with the bank and bring any required documentation back to the board.